Railway-tie.



W. E. ROBERTS.

RAILWAY TIE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 21, 1909.

937,182. I Patented 0ct.19,19 09.

[1E V llillll Y will 0 wimeooea 7 2 'M WILLIAM E. ROBERTS, SAN ANTONIO,TEXAS.

RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

Application filed June 21, 1909. Serial No. 503,324.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, WILLIAM E. ROBERTS, a citlzen of the United States,residing at San Antonio, in the county of Bexar and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Ties, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway ties, and has for its object toproduce a simple, practical tie of this type, which will be inexpensivein manufacture and which can be made with a comparatively small quantityof material.

The invention aims primarily to provide a tie which will be compact, andwhich will eliminate the use of as many parts as possible, while yetpreserving all the essentials and requisites demanded by a device ofthis type.

Further and other objects will appear hereinafter and be set forth.

In the drawings, Figure 1, is a top plan view of a tie constructed inaccordance with this invention, Fig. 2, is an end elevation showing oneof the rail supporting members in section, and Fig. 3, is a section online 33 of Fig. 1.

The invention contemplates the use of two rail supporting members eachof cruciform designated in the drawings 1. As both of the members areidentical a description of one will suffice for both. Each arm of eachmember is formed on its under face so that it is in cross section asubstantially U-shape or channel-bar formed as depicted in Figs. 2 and 3at 2. This channel, so to speak, has its sides diverging, the purpose ofwhich is to bite firmly into the road-bed and thereby obtain a firmfooting for the rail engaging member. The members 1 are preferably castof metal, or may be otherwise formed and since as is obvious there arefour arms provided for each member 1, any tendency toward shiftingmovement in any direction will be effectually arrested. Each of the arms3 of the members 1 is formed on its upper face with a cut-out portion 4which terminates atia point substantially central of the width of themembers as depicted in Fig. 2. A connecting member or bar 5 ofstrip-form is of such thickness and size as to completely fill thecut-out portion 4 and to lie flush with the top face 6 of members 1 asshown in Fig. 2.

A rail engaging clamp 7 is mounted on the face 6 and is cut-out so as toreceive the base and web of the rail and is formed with an openingthrough which extends a bolt 8.

The head 9 of bolt 8 is of a size to be received in the channel 2. A nut10 engages on the free end of bolt 8 and seats on the top face of clamp7 whereby the latter is readily retained in position. A second bolt 12is secured in like manner to the opposite arm of member 1 and extendsthrough an opening provided therefor in the connecting member of bar 5,the bolt further extending through an elongated slot 13 formed in therail engaging clamp 14, being secured in position by means of a nut 15.By referring to Fig. 2, it will be observed that the base of the rail 17overlaps the free end of con necting member or bar 5, and seatingthereon tends to assist in retaining bar 5 in position. By the provisionof the slots 13 it will be obvious that when the clamp 14 is placed inposition itmay be urged to engage the rail 17 as desired prior totightening of its securing nut 15. It will furthermore be obvious thatbolt 12 performs a dual function, in that it serves to simultaneouslysecure bar 5 in position and to provide the necessary securement for therail clamp 14.

Inasmuch as the heads of the bolts extend Way up into the channels 2they are not exposed and moreover, since they engage the walls formed bychannels 2 they are effectually held against any turning movement.

In practice the device can as above stated, be made at comparativelyslight cost, it is simple and possesses an economy of material in itsmanufacture. 3y firmly embedding the cruciform members into the road-bmldue to the channels 2 providing edges 16 which bite into the road-beddue to the divergentrelation of the edges, the rail carrying members canbe secured elfectually against any tendency to move.

What is claimed is:

A rail tie comprising spaced cruciform members having their arms groovedlongitudinally upon their under sides, a tie-rod having either endfitting in a groove exfaces of said members and prevented. from tendingto a central point in the upper face rotation thereby. 10 of saidmember, a stationary clamp mounted In testimony whereof I have aflixedmy on the outer arm of each member, a latersignature in presence of twoWitnesses.

ally adjustable clamp mounted on said tie- WILLIAM E. ROBERTS.

rod adapted to hold the rail, tie rod and tie Witnesses: together, andbolts for said clamps having PETER SMITH, heads conforming to thegrooves in the under JOHN H. BOLTON.

